Mike Love Net Worth
What is Mike Love’s Net Worth?
Mike Love is an American musician, singer, songwriter and activist who has a net worth of $80 million. Mike Love founded Beach Boys with his cousins Brian Wilson, Carl and Dennis Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. He was one of the band’s singer-songwriters and co-authored hit records such as “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” and “Good Vibrations.” However, many of Love’s contributions went unrecognized until the 1990s, when he sued Brian Wilson for composing more than 30 songs. Today, Mike is the only person legally allowed to tour with the band name.
Mike’s brother Stan Love is a retired NBA player. Stan’s son NBA star Kevin Love.
Early life and career
Mike Love was born in Los Angeles, California in 1941, the first of six children to parents Emily and Edward. As a young adult, he went to Dorsey High School, graduating in 1959. Unsure of his career direction, Love took a breather and temporarily joined his father’s sheet metal company. Meanwhile, he showed off his vocal skills at a house party with his cousins, the Wilsons, with whom he often sings. When Love’s father’s company was in trouble, the family moved to Inglewood, which was closer to the Wilsons.
At the beginning of his musical career, Love played the saxophone in a garage band called the Pendletones. Along with Brian Wilson, neighbor Gary Usher and local DJ Roger Christian, he became a collaborator on the band’s original productions. Love draws inspiration from Chuck Berry and songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, bringing doo-wop and R&B influences to the band’s music. The Pendletones would eventually evolve into the band known as the Beach Boys.
“Smile” and “Wild Honey”
In 1964, the internal strife of the Beach Boys began when Brian Wilson began moving the band away from beach-themed surf music. According to many reports, Love resisted this new direction. Many, including live musician Van Dyke Parks, subsequently blamed love for the collapse of the Beach Boys album “Smile.” Love, however, disputed the allegation. In 1967 he returned to co-writing the Beach Boys’ first R&B project album Wild Honey.
Transcendental Meditation and Travel
Later in 1967, Love was one of many rock musicians who embraced Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental meditation techniques. Love and the Beach Boys participated in many of Maharishi’s public appearances, including in Paris, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts. After the latter emerged, Maharishi invited Love to join the Beatles at a training workshop in Rishikesh, India. There, Love plans to headline a US tour with the Beach Boys and Maharishi. The tour began in May 1968, but ended after only five performances due to insufficient audience. Love remains an avid supporter of Maharishi, even becoming the initiator of transcendental meditation in 1972.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Beach Boys in the 70’s and 80’s
During the ’70s and ’80s, Love composed the music and lyrics for many Beach Boys tracks, including “Big Sur” and “Sumahama.” One of his biggest professional achievements came in 1988, when he and the band hit No. 1 in the US with “Kokomo.” The song went on to receive Grammy and Golden Globe nominations. Also in 1988, Love and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Legal disputes
In the early 1990s, Love joined Al Jardine and several members of the Wilson family in suing Brian Wilson for defamation over remarks he made in a recent memoir. The case was settled out of court, marking the first of multiple lawsuits Love has brought against Brian. A few years later, Love won a legal battle that gave him proper attribution rights to many of the songs he wrote for the Beach Boys. He successfully argued that Murray Wilson avoided crediting him for his early lyrical contributions, thus denying him royalties. Love remains unrecognized in the more than 40 songs he claims to have co-written.
After Carl Wilson’s death in 1998, Love continued to tour with the Beach Boys and leased exclusive touring rights under the band’s name. More legal battles ensued, as Love sued former band member Jardine for using the name while on tour. Although the court ultimately ruled in Love’s favor, Jardine continued to appeal the decision, seeking $4 million in damages. The case was eventually settled out of court.
Anniversary tour and autobiography
Love reunited with Jardine, Johnston, Brian Wilson and David Marks in 2011 for a new Beach Boys album and 50th anniversary tour. After the tour, the band dropped Wilson, Jardine and Marks. Later, in 2016, Love released his autobiography, Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. This book aims to address many of the alleged inaccuracies about love over the years.
other music projects
In 1978, while he was still with the Beach Boys, Love co-founded Celebration, which reached the top 30 in the US with the single “Almost Summer”. A few years later, Love released his debut solo album, Looking Back with Love. It wasn’t until 2017 that he released a follow-up to “Unleashing Love.” The following year, Love released a third solo album titled “Reason for the Season”, which featured original and traditional Christmas music. The fourth solo album “12 Sides of Summer” was released in 2019.
personal life and activism
Love has been married to Jacquelyne Piesen since 1994. He has two children with her, and six from his first four marriages. Love lives in Incline Village, Nevada.
Love has been dedicated to activism and philanthropy throughout his career. He has been involved in a number of projects advocating topics such as music education, environmentalism, and juvenile diabetes.
